The Boy in the Bubble and the Making of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Lectures at Academy to Explore Two Intriguing Issues of 20th Century Medicine

NEW YORK CITY, Feb. 21 ???In intriguing lectures coming up at the Academy this week and in March, scholars will explore two complex issues encountered in 20th century medicine: the Boy in the Bubble, and the making of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Both issues involve complex questions of medical ethics, appropriate use of technology, shifting paradigms of acceptable treatment and research, the impact of medicine on the lives of individuals, and the influence of politics on public health.

Medicine and public health interventions have enhanced people???s lives, but these lectures demonstrate the complexities inherent in that gift. Advanced medical technology brings critical ethical problems???often at a speed and scale that we don???t have the capacity to manage. New definitions of medical conditions and risk factors can become embroiled in political and economic conflicts. And as public health programs expand and grow more technologically savvy, government is better equipped to pry into the private lives of citizens.

All lectures start at 6 p.m. at the Academy, located at 1216 Fifth Avenue (103rd Street). Lectures are free and open to the public, and are preceded by a reception at 5:30 p.m.

February 23, 2006
James H. Jones
???The Decision to Put David into the ???Bubble???: Treatment or Research????
This talk will focus on what happened a little over thirty years ago when an infant boy with virtually no immune system lived all but a few weeks of his life in a germ-free environment???basically a plastic bubble???to stay alive. Known as the ???bubble boy,??? David Joseph Vetter???s plight captured hearts around the world.

Vetter was born in 1971 with Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID), a genetic disorder that interferes with a person???s ability to fight off disease. His parents and doctors had suspected that David would be born with this disorder, so went to extraordinary lengths to ensure a sterile delivery, and then immediately placed the infant in a carefully designed isolater that would protect him from germs and viruses. David was destined to spend all but a few weeks of his twelve years of life in isolation. In this lecture, James H. Jones examines the decision to place David in the bubble, reconstructing the complex set of issues raised by this particular case and the options that were available.

James H. Jones is an independent scholar living in San Francisco. An award-winning author and leading historian of American social and intellectual history, Jones is the author of ???Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, A Tragedy of Race and Medicine,??? and ???Alfred C. Kinsey: A Public/Private Life.??? He is currently at work on a book about David Vetter, as well as a biography of William Jefferson Clinton.

March 23, 2006
Janet Golden
???The Making of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome???
This lecture will analyze the growing worry in recent decades with alcohol???s potentially adverse effects on developing fetuses, as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome emerged as a major medical concern. Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol during pregnancy was long considered harmless, but many pregnant women now lose sleep over even minimal consumption. Lecturer Janet Golden will analyze the rise of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome as a perceived medical threat, arguing that it was shaped in part by the struggle over abortion rights and the intense media coverage of ???crack??? babies.

Janet Golden is a professor of History at Rutgers University. Her books include ???A Social History of Wet Nursing in America: From Breast to Bottle??? and ???Message in a Bottle: The Making of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.??? She is currently working on a book about children???s experiences of illness and how they shaped American life and culture from the end of the Civil War to World War II.

Both lectures are sponsored by the Academy???s Section on the History of Medicine and Public Health. The New York Academy of Medicine, the country???s premier urban health policy and intervention center, focuses on enhancing the health of people living in cities through research, education, advocacy, and prevention. Visit us online at www.nyam.org.

-by A'Dora Phillips

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Posted on February 21, 2006

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Contact:
Andrew J. Martin
Director of Communications
The New York Academy of Medicine
1216 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10029
212-822-7285
amartin@nyam.org

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